Busy Busy

I've been meaning to post about the cool new things I've been doing but my camera isn't working. I'm going to repair my other one sometime this week but in the meantime there will be no pics. :( Just to update, I've been super duper busy with wedding cake replicas, trying to do 1 1/2-2 a day, along with the usual flow of orders. Fortunately I got a bunch of orders for them this year and need them all to their little homes by Christmas. It's quite a task so I'm going to get on it now, hopefully I'll have pics of some of the replicas in a few days.

xoxo

I guess I should've explained the last post a little more. I've been getting into things that I've never really thought much about, like the origin of the universe, space, cavemen, the Bible.. and so I guess its been making me ponder life more...I found a documentary on one of the topics and then they just snowballed. I found out about one thing and to fully understand it I found that I needed to know more about others. But it's been very intriguing to say the least. :)

Anywho, here is my normal, slightly dull blog! haha :)

I made cookies last night from a recipe of Paula Dean's and they turned out really good! Lately I've been trying to get more creative in the kitchen, or get in the kitchen period and so I looked up some recipes. I found her Gooey Chocolate Butter Cookies and oh my is she a smart lady! I've never been one to even make normal cookies, much less yummy ones. Mine ALWAYS turn out really thin and cake-like, even when I follow the recipe exactly. (I'm sure most of you domestic goddesses know what I'm missing but it has been eluding me for ages!) So I found out a cheater's tip for making yummy moist, normal :) cookies. The recipe says to beat together a box of chocolate cake mix, one egg, one stick butter and one package cream cheese. Oh and vanilla. Refrigerate for 2 hours, roll into balls and bake for 12 minutes and whoaness! these are some buttery chocolatey cookies. If I could I would just make Butter Cookies, I am a huge fan of butter, and therefore a huge fan of Paula dean! lol. But the best thing about this recipe is that I'm going to try it with different cake mixes. I believe she does something similar on the show where she makes Red Velvet Cookies, where she sandwhiches cream cheese icing between two of these 'cake' cookies! mmmm yummy.

Annnnnd today I made a new necklace that I am super proud of! I'm thinking of making one for myself. :) I named it Bohemian Lovely because it was so angelic and light, yet indie and urban! Loves it!! The tusk looking thing is a focal pendant handmade by moi. I researched how to create 'faux ivory' using polymer clay about a week ago and haven't been able to stop making these things! You layer different shades of pale clay, depending on which hue of ivory you're trying to achieve, mix them until you can barely tell the shades apart and then after your piece is hardened, sand and buff it shiny and smooth - it's hard to tell apart from the real thing! This is an especially hot trend right now, I believe both Juicy Couture and Tarina Tarantino are doing the 'tusk' style jewelry.

It's only a matter of time before I can hold out on embedding vintage rhinestones into them!! hehe

xoxo

Camille

Bumbling Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately...about everything. No, really everything! Like, where do we come from? If God did create the Earth, is he the same one they are talking about in the Bible? What is the missing link to extraterrestrial life? Am I going down the right path? What am I going to do with my life? Is my car going to die while driving to a town an hour away because it's awfully sputtery and shaky... Should I get another bunny for LillieBelle to have a friend? lol. All kinds of random analyzing and evaluating has been going on inside of this crazy lady!

I don't know...the only thing I can chalk it all up to is maybe another life change? You know, everyone goes through them a couple times in their life where it is actually significant. (Going from a toddler to kindergarten is a life change but you know what I mean.) In highschool I suppose I had one or two, and then afterwards and into college another, and now maybe this is another? Definitely not quarter-life crisis because although I have anxiety about some of it (will the world end in 2012?) I am not longing for any change, just maybe some clarification. Maybe I've been living my life too much on auto-pilot and have just now started to really wake up and think about things. I've always felt I had a huge sense of 'self' but maybe now I will have a whole new understanding of the meaning...

Whew! That's nice to express, for some reason I'd be embarrassed to post this as a Myspace blog. =)

Sorry if this blog freaked anyone out, I was writing as if I was writing in my diary! =) Tomorrow will be another nice little blog about crafting and a sunny afternoon! lol. Thanks for indulging me everyone! Have a fabulous evening!!

xoxo

Camille

God bless you Ted, you're reading my blog!

(I've been watching too much How I Met Your Mother lately.) Anywho, another relaxing weekend of crafts, bbq and fun! :) My honey made his famous jalapeno poppers on the grill, and then slow-cooked some oh-so delicious ribs. I helped a little bit but mostly did work for the shop. Here's some pics from this weekend:

Tough Times

Ugghhhh I'm in a huge slump right now. With the dwindling economy and Etsy being over-crowded, I'm not doing good at all. I'm almost thinking of having a 'Going out of Business Sale' soon. On top of that, I just moved to a sort of small town and there are NO job prospects unless you are a welder, maintenence tech, or registered nurse. I've always admired nurses for what they do, but would hate to have to do the things they do myself! Don't judge me, but I wouldn't want to have to touch people, like help strangers in the bath and whatnot. Or empty their bedpans. ewwwie. If you have the stomach for it though, it's a super smart field to go into - you could relocate to pretty much anywhere, and have a job!

But I do want to keep something going on the side, for fun and for extra cash. I want to start a more manageable, simplified business in which I focus solely on wedding cake replicas. If only I had enough money or pull to get an ad in ModernBride, I'd be set! :) But in the meantime, I plan to make some marketing pamphlets to send to wedding coordinators and bakeries.

It's About Time

To dust off my poor little blog and start hanging out again! :)

I've just moved AGAIN and so it's taken so time to get adjusted and back in the swing of things. I've learned that I can't keep up the Etsy store like I once used to. I mean, not that I can't keep up with it, but it's not making enough money to keep it up full-time. Last year at this time, close to the holidays, I was doing pretty well. I'm sure it has something to do with the addition of breathtaking new artists there, like wiyomu, NatayDezine, or TatteredElegance to name a few.

I am trying to keep inspired, keep coming up with fresh new ideas. I've gone in two directions: fun and playful jewelry and then more vintage, elegant jewelry. Here are a couple of examples!

That's about it for now, but expect to hear from me more often! :)

Oh my gahhhhh!

I just noticed today that I was on the front page! In the storque! I'm not sure exactly how long it's been up, but that would make sense as to why I did really well on Sunday night and Monday. :) Here's a pic of the front page!
Min is in the upper right-hand corner, the fabulous white bow necklace! :)